Drinking Coffee Might Make You Live 64% Longer Than Those Who Don’t, Study Says

If you are someone who starts out their day with a fresh cup of coffee – or two, or three, or four cups, for that matter – you may be more likely to live longer than your caffeine-averse counterparts.

A new study conducted by the European Society For Cardiology has linked increased coffee consumption in a region of Europe with longevity.

“Coffee is one of the most widely consumed beverages around the world,” said Dr. Adela Navarro, a cardiologist at Hospital de Navarra, Pamplona, Spain. “Previous studies have suggested that drinking coffee might be inversely associated with all-cause mortality but this has not been investigated in a Mediterranean country.”

The study involved roughly 20,000 participants who were 37 years or older over the course of 10 years. Upon factoring in additional dietary, sociological, and medical factors, the researchers found that participants who consumed four cups of coffee displayed “a 64% lower risk of all-cause mortality than those who never or almost never consumed coffee”.

For every additional two cups of coffee that the participants consumed, their risk of mortality dropped by a further 22%.

“Our findings suggest that drinking four cups of coffee each day can be part of a healthy diet in healthy people,” says Navarro.

While the study’s positive results might simply be a correlation, rather than causation, this is not the first piece of research that has examined coffee’s health benefits. A similar study published in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition on Mediterranean adults found that habitual coffee drinkers were 54% less likely to develop type 2 diabetes.

Another study found that – when paired with a certain breast cancer drug – two cups of coffee actually lowered the risk of breast cancer recurrences in women.

Further research may be necessary to prove that coffee can make you immortal – but in the mean time, feel free to pour yourself another cuppa.